Comments on: Smith On Blacksite

By: Midway’s Online Arcade | Rock, Paper, Shotgun

Midway’s Online Arcade | Rock, Paper, Shotgun — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 14:57:38 +0000

[...] it’s Midway’s turn. These days, the old M is flogging the likes of UT3 and the super fucking subversive Blacksite: Area 51, but back in the dim and distant is was of course responsible for yer Defenders [...]

By: Rock, Paper, Shotgun: Making False Idols For 2008 » Blog Archive » The Joy Of Co-Op

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 12:18:26 +0000

[...] course, there may have been a few other factors at play there too… but I think the point [...]

By: Garth

Garth — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 05:25:43 +0000

“My issue with DX was that it had good ideas but never fully realised any of them; including it’s core conceit as a shooter.”
I’d argue the same thing about Half Life 2. I don’t think I had fun with the actual combat for pretty much the whole game. The story in HL2 was, let’s be honest, pretty half-assed. It’s also totally on rails, and the enemy A.I. isn’t much beyond custers charge. The ‘friendly’ NPC A.I.? Wow…

That said, there are things in Half Life 2 I liked — the art was great; the levels had (usually, anyway) a good flow to them. There were some snags (the endless boat ride, for one), but when that ended I was off exploring another city.

Deus Ex has such a rabid fanbase largely because the amount of things Deus Ex did well; the combat was mediocre, but once you got into the game it felt natural. The fact that you really aren’t pushed into fighting Five Guys In This Room Where The Door Shuts Behind You was a huge boon to the combat, as you could be quite selective about where combat went down. Surrounding all this combat though was an immersive and gripping story, and tiny bits of random fact you could learn.

Going beyond this was the ‘RPG’ elements of the game, where you could heavily modify one gun, or tweak all of them. You could play the entire game using only the pistol, or constantly upgrade to heavier weapons. Hell, you could pretty much beat the game using only the knife.

When it comes down to it, the heaviest draw Deus Ex had was how much YOU controlled how the game went, instead of: Enemy A must be killed with Plasma Weaponry, whereas Enemy Z requires a bullet through his visor at exactly six feet, and you have to do it inside this 10×10 foot room.

By: Namagem

Namagem — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 03:39:19 +0000

I’d hardly say the shooter component was “rubbish”. I’m part of the online community. As a shooter game.

Actually, what’s much more fun, is modding deus ex; it seems much more moddably accessable than unreal, which it’s based off of.

Still; DX; Shooter; Not rubbish.

By: Rock, Paper, Shotgun: PC Gaming’s Ivoriest Tower » Blog Archive » Harvey Smith Is A Lone Ranger

Fri, 30 Nov 2007 22:55:53 +0000

[...] Sören Höglund: But first and foremost it’s a shooter. My issue with DX was that it had good ideas but never fully realised any of them; including… [...]

By: Sören Höglund

Sören Höglund — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 22:07:13 +0000

But first and foremost it’s a shooter. My issue with DX was that it had good ideas but never fully realised any of them; including it’s core conceit as a shooter.

The shooty bits are pretty crap, I agree, but I wouldn't call it a shooter anymore than I'd call it a stealth game. You can complete it and only ever kill one or two people if you really want to, after all. And yeah, looks like he's gone. Next destination, Eidos Montreal?

By: drunkymonkey

drunkymonkey — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 20:49:25 +0000

And now reportedly he’s left the company.

By: Frank

Frank — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 20:43:50 +0000

For some reason, Harvey Smith always reminds me of Eddie Murphy’s “Randy Watson” character in Coming to America.

Singing his heart out while annoying the hell out of everyone, then at the end screaming “Sexual Chocolate!”, stomping his feet before dropping the mic and running back offstage.

By: Radiant

Radiant — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 14:50:50 +0000

DX was a rubbish shooter. Lucky it did some other stuff, eh?

But first and foremost it’s a shooter.

My issue with DX was that it had good ideas but never fully realised any of them; including it’s core conceit as a shooter.

By: Joe

Joe — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 00:05:44 +0000

By the way: is there a FULL transcript (or recording / filming) of the whole thing anywhere? I hate forming an opinion from quotes, because they’re usually so skewed it’s impossible to get the whole story.

By: Joe

Joe — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 00:02:05 +0000

The fact is there is a huge difference between something being on sale in the US and UK. They’re different markets. He’s not even given it a chance with this. You don’t doom the sales of your game in the vain (yes, both meanings of the word) hope that your adoring public will forgive you. I can’t believe you’re preaching the value of keeping your name in the public eye. A much more effective way of doing that is fucking off for 18 months, making a bloody good game and then coming back and letting it do the work for you.

At the end of the day, I completely disagree with you (about from Minter being a cock), but that’s what the internet is for, right?

By: CrashT

CrashT — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 23:49:55 +0000

I think it’s been on sale in the US for nearly three weeks now (Nov 12th release I believe), and if a game doesn’t get particularly good sales in that time it’s basically doomed. It’ll lose shelf space to newer and more popular titles and within a few weeks it’ll be bargin bin material.

So at that point you’ve really got a choice of saying nothing and then nobody even remembers your name. Saying all the reviewers are wrong (Hello Dave Jaffe, hello Jeff Minter) and people generally think you’re acting like a spoilt child. Or saying “Yeah we fucked up, sorry.” and hoping people will remember your honesty when the next game comes along and be willing to give you the benefit of the doubt.